Recently, NOAA’s Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO) announced that the Acquisition Plan for “Pro-Tech” had received approval by both the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Small Business Administration (SBA). This marks a significant milestone achievement for the Pro-Tech program and AGO is excited to move to the next phase of the procurement process since there had been a long delay caused by the desire to set aside 100% the program for Small Business. The approval is a win-win for both NOAA and the SBA, since the plan is to award 75% of the IDIQ contracts under this program to Small Business bidders.
The program is envisioned to be a Strategic Sourcing Initiative that will reduce the number of contractors and contracting actions for the agency professional and technical services delivered on-site to NOAA locations across the country.

Pro-Tech Strategic Sourcing for Services

Pro-Tech is intended to fulfill NOAA’s requirements for professional and technical services in support of its varied and complex mission through the award of a portfolio of enterprise-wide contracts. These contracts will enable the fulfillment of NOAA’s services requirements in a timely manner and leverage purchasing power. Acquisition Strategy: Full and Open Competition with reserves for small business in accordance with section 1331 of the U.S. Jobs Act. There are reserves planned for areas other than the NOAA Satellites. This will allow NOAA to utilize contractors of up to 500 employees for critical work they deem Small Business not suitable to perform. And small business must be within the $15M threshold for other domains.

NOAA will be organizing the mission requirements into five domains based on the organizational structure of the bureau in which multiple IDIQ contracts will be awarded. The following are the five Pro-Tech “Domains” that best represent NOAA’s specialized needs for professional and technical services.

Pro-Tech Domains and NAICS Codes

Each domain has been assigned a NAICS code for determining status as a small business. The domains and applicable NAICS codes and related small business size standards are set forth below:

Pro-Tech NAIC and Domain Codes

Goals of the Strategic Sourcing

• Improve the time to engage service – i.e., faster, better ,cheaper with high quality service provided to NOAA
• Improve relationship between NOAA and their providers, move from a customer to a client relationship
• Reduction in service prices through efficiency without a reduction in quality
• Reduction in transaction costs through order consolidation and reduction in contractors
• Integrate the blended workforce of providers and NOAA personnel to work effectively together with transparency and security
Acquisition Time line:
• Pro-Tech Industry Day (August 12, 2015)
NOAA’s Acquisition and Grants Office will host an initial Pro-Tech Industry Day on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 from 1 – 3 pm ET at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP) Auditorium and Conference Center, 5830 University Research Court, College Park, Maryland 20740.
• Draft Solicitations: 1QFY16
• Final Solicitations :2QFY16
• Multiple Awards: 2QFY17-3QFY17

For questions, contact John Cook via email at jcook@ociwins.com.